Hi Cynthia
This brought back memories of being under water, and struggling to work out which way was up. the way you described your dive took the reader along with you, and I nearly found myself holding my breath till you broke the surface.
An enjoyable read.
Cheers Kevin
Comment is about The Dive (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
My pleasure Anya.. Hope to be the same in future too ?
Comment is about Believe it or not (blog)
Original item by Mahha Tafseer
Big Sal
Sun 18th Mar 2018 01:34
Very descriptive, and what a way to end a night! Nice flow to your sample as well.
Comment is about Charlotte Mae (poet profile)
Original item by Charlotte Mae
It's because I have an aversion to spending money, Brian.
Comment is about THE CARABINER BRACES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
hello both, thank you for taking the time to review and the very kind words... sorry it's taken time to respond- i've been waylaid by the flu this week. Some very kind thoughts from you both here, much appreciated.
Comment is about John Clare Poem 1 (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
all thank you for the kind comments... and sorry for the delay... more snow and with it more flu this week!
Comment is about 'Courtyard in Snow' by Tom Harding is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks Brian. The poem refers to my stepson's family actually but I feel for them, and I'm sorry you had to suffer a loss.
Keith, ditto as for Brian. I appreciate your concern and sympathy though. Thanks.
Hugh, it's good to have a younger dog in the family to take over when the time comes, I'm sure. I hope you enjoy their company for a good long time! Thanks.
Col, I have to agree about the principle of prolonging life beyond the natural scope ; many problems are created therein. Your scenario of guilt is one possibility, I have seen this when an grandmother dies and the daughter accuses her sister of not caring (my mother as it happens), all to cover up a lack of proper care herself.
It all sounds very negative. Often under emotional pressure we go to pieces and lash out.
As I said, the dog is a real one, but luckily not mine.
Thanks for your like Yours Truly. Ray
Comment is about DON'T TAKE OUR DOG AWAY (blog)
Original item by ray pool
<Deleted User> (18980)
Sat 17th Mar 2018 17:12
John you are clearly of the baby-boomer problem-solving generation.
Comment is about THE CARABINER BRACES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
I’d have cut quite a dash I’m sure, Hannah.
Comment is about THE CARABINER BRACES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
fariha.sk
Sat 17th Mar 2018 16:37
WHY IS THIS SO BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN? YOU ARE GORGEOUS WOW!!
Comment is about MOVE ON... (blog)
Original item by Swetha Kandati
fariha.sk
Sat 17th Mar 2018 16:35
Happy St. Patrick's Day. I trust and value highly my Irish genes, so often 'over the top' but wonderful to exercise. This 'work' has been percolating for years, and today it's gone. Even without apology.
Comment is about The Dive (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
<Deleted User> (18118)
Sat 17th Mar 2018 16:08
Love this one.
More snow today.
Hannah
Comment is about 'Courtyard in Snow' by Tom Harding is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
<Deleted User> (18118)
Sat 17th Mar 2018 14:47
Very honest.
Someone once said, society is made up of people jumping up and down yelling and then there are those who sit and watch the others jump.
Both groups important.
A sad poem but very well expressed.
Hannah
Comment is about Thoughts (blog)
Original item by Connor Jones
<Deleted User> (18118)
Sat 17th Mar 2018 14:41
I was reading an article 'Why is Poetry so sad?'
I think the author thought it's more interesting sad but I think the poet probes deeper, beneath the surface.
I am glad you write as you feel.
Enjoyed reading it.
Hannah
Comment is about Snow In March (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
<Deleted User> (18118)
Sat 17th Mar 2018 14:21
I would like to have seen you on Dragon's Den.
Shame about the ending, love the story.
Hannah
Comment is about THE CARABINER BRACES (blog)
Original item by John Coopey
Hi Colin,
Thanks for your considered comments, I'm glad you like the poem and I love your line:
"Poems are born to seek expression and interpretation in equal measure imo."
I couldn't agree more.
Comment is about Snow In March (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
<Deleted User> (13762)
Sat 17th Mar 2018 09:19
your poems Adam are always a little hard to pin down - abstract as you say - but I genuinely like them for being so. You could be talking to yourself here or with someone close to you. Either way it's an interesting conversation and one which appears to question your repeated use of certain imagery. I might be wrong of course but the interpretation I have works brilliantly for me. Poems are born to seek expression and interpretation in equal measure imo. I love the rocket-fuel verse. I can't help but think of Mr Hawking and maybe the whole thing is about him. Whichever, I like this lots. Thanks for posting. Colin.
Comment is about Snow In March (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
<Deleted User> (13762)
Sat 17th Mar 2018 09:00
I can't help but read this as a cynical look at some dog owners and a metaphor for keeping life going at all costs. We do the same to our elderly. Once upon a time we allowed them to die naturally and peacefully but now we pump them full of antibiotics because no-one wants to take the rap for letting them just die. Quality of life diminishes until even the meds fail to keep their wrecked bodies alive.
Interestingly you mention the kids having moved away. This is often a major issue of conflict between doctors and family. Sons and daughters, brothers and sisters feel guilty for having not been there and overcompensate when things come to a head. Why wasn't this done? Why wasn't that done? Whilst all the time the doc is thinking why weren't you here when they needed you?
Of course I could be wrong and I apologise in advance.
All the best to you and your dog Ray - real or imagined.
Col.
Comment is about DON'T TAKE OUR DOG AWAY (blog)
Original item by ray pool
<Deleted User> (18980)
Sat 17th Mar 2018 08:37
Arguments and counter-arguments, but I still hate that word whether used by a woman or a man or any other gender variation. I read everything posted on WOL but will stop reading as soon as I encounter that word. That's my only exception; that's my line in the sand. I don't think that is hypocritical.
Comment is about Butterfly (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
"I paid the tax but......."Great line,great thoughts.My patience is being taxed by all the potholes I keep falling down in our economy due to problems being left to fester and cause more trouble.
Comment is about Tax- I don't have problem. (blog)
Original item by Ankita Srivastava
A beautiful and compassionate kennel of words transmitting the strength of the bond we humans have with our four legged friends.I have two dogs,one very old lacking in mobility and one extremely vibrant and youthful.Both wag their tails and smile first things in the morning.My thoughts are with you and your dog.
Comment is about DON'T TAKE OUR DOG AWAY (blog)
Original item by ray pool
It would seem that it snowed through out the night and the writer puts it so well describing an attire that covers a new day that must not be tempered with. Brilliant work of art.
Comment is about Courtyard In Snow (blog)
Original item by Tom Harding
Ray,
tons of empathy from a dog lover who sits at this moment with my two dear hearts. I really do know exactly how you feel. Bless you and her. Keith
Comment is about DON'T TAKE OUR DOG AWAY (blog)
Original item by ray pool
<Deleted User> (18980)
Fri 16th Mar 2018 23:14
Ray if this is for real I feel for you. We went through it in November.
Comment is about DON'T TAKE OUR DOG AWAY (blog)
Original item by ray pool
Simple and subtle with some winning lines Tom. Captivating.
Ray
Comment is about 'Courtyard in Snow' by Tom Harding is Write Out Loud's Poem of the Week (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman
Thanks David for going the extra mile in interpretation. All highly valid when turned over. I saw the doc that Colin mentioned, and it disturbed me rather, with the perverse fancies of Hitchcock clearly revealed. I thought I would try to neutralize that by ridiculing it - hence Michael. The film was a shock for me at the age of 16 !
Glad I stirred you up Hannah! Not sure if IS exists, but it should. I do mimicry quite a lot. Thanks for looking in.
Thanks Suki. I didn't realize how the addition of "fat controller" would add an ingredient. Glad that worked.
Blimey, Col. Scary French! Yes the doc. got me thinking. Very interesting , do watch it. Note the comment about filming in black and white and why...
Grateful to you: Tommy, David and Pat additionally.
Ray with love to all.
Comment is about PSYCHO DRAMA (blog)
Original item by ray pool
<Deleted User> (18980)
Fri 16th Mar 2018 15:42
Consistent Hugh...exactly the same standard as previous entries.
Comment is about It wasn't my dog! (blog)
Original item by hugh
your words that relate you make sound mesmerizing but painfully put there bc you feel it too. i enjoy reading your poems a lot! i hope you don’t stop just keep doing this for you bc it may help other ppl too
Comment is about Momma, I Can't Knock Them Out. (blog)
Original item by Nick
These lines evoke the constant pitch and sway between
what is desired and what is offered - and who, if guilt be
attached, is to blame for the outcome? The film world
has the reputation of the "casting couch" in offering and obtaining advantage to interested parties of both sexes.
The old stars, long gone, have alluded to the process and
it's now part of Hollywood folklore, whatever degree it
reached in practice. They in their turn appear to have
treated it with amused indifference on the basis that real
talent never needs it and those who recognise real talent
never use it. The crimes that may be involved are
subject to being submerged under the weight of the
"hindsight" complaints that see financial opportunity and
this is a very obvious danger to obtaining justice for the victims of defined criminal behaviour who seek proper and just redress.
Comment is about (blog)
Original item by Amanda Evans
Cheers Cynth.
Yeh, I think it's the sound of 'blindfold' that I like more than anything. I agree, it's doubling up. I will consider removing it, thanks for the suggestion.
Vision - I'll keep that in though, as it's not exactly the same doubling up as previously, it's slightly different again.
Comment is about Wilfully Blind (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
I like this a lot, Laura. You are so good. I make a bold suggestion because we know each other, with great respect.
Would you consider removing a couple of words like:
'He sticks the blinkers on
Counts out the sorrows ... '
The 'blindfold' idea is clear already, and the mouthing of that word itself is almost a shuffle in a sharp step.
'And sees with one eye only' is hugely impactive, IMO, needing no further embellishment of the same idea and that word with a 'sshh' sound like a motor stopping.
But, perhaps, that is exactly what you intended; you're that skilled.
Comment is about Wilfully Blind (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
Sharply pointed and deeply inserted.
Comment is about The Codes (blog)
Original item by Robert C Gaulke
Oh I do like this. The repetition of that line - is this a 'form' poem? I'm crap at recognising any form.
It feels biblical to me, almost godlike in its authoritarian narrative.
That second line is pure killer. One I wish I'd written myself.
Comment is about Don't Hesitate Til You Know (blog)
Original item by Adam Whitworth
Thank you for your contribution, Colin.
That remark made to Brian was flippant and dismissive, and springs from having to explain myself, my language, my opinions, my everything to men for years and years, in the face of constant disapproval for not fitting into the mould of what a woman 'should be'. It gets incredibly tiresome and frustrating, so sometimes I resort to one-liners. The hypocrisy in the statement of the use of every other swear word being acceptable but this one not (some kind of silent, invisible and unpredictable pre-judgement) irked me too.
Comment is about Butterfly (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
<Deleted User> (18980)
Thu 15th Mar 2018 17:30
when I start I just can't stop ? do you like it doh ..lol
Comment is about America (blog)
Original item by Lisa Donohoe
<Deleted User> (16099)
Thu 15th Mar 2018 15:24
from the first few lines I was hoping this piece was about you-you are a beautiful woman of words indeed, and naked with you in heart and mind would be a gentle and loving grace come true...
Comment is about Tree (blog)
Original item by Cynthia Buell Thomas
Cheers Martin, anyone can see that you are an erudite chap with taste. ;- )
Comment is about Martin Elder (poet profile)
Original item by Martin Elder
Cheers Martin, anyone can see that you are an erudite chap with taste. ;- )
Comment is about Inebriation or where's the wall? (blog)
Original item by Tommy Carroll
<Deleted User> (18980)
Thu 15th Mar 2018 14:52
Blooming heck Lisa...leave a few issues for the rest of us!
Comment is about America (blog)
Original item by Lisa Donohoe
Different strokes for different folks then eh? Generations apart!
Comment is about Butterfly (blog)
Original item by Laura Taylor
Isobel
Sun 18th Mar 2018 09:35
Those are huge shoes to fill. The best of luck to whoever follows you! It's been a pleasure meeting you at Marsden and Wigan. Writeoutloud has been so lucky to have you. You've done the most amazing job and given the site such a professional feel.
All the best in your retirement Greg.
Isobel xx
Comment is about We're looking for a poetry journalist - or two - for Write Out Loud (article)
Original item by Greg Freeman